Another Thing To Stress About?

Dinner. It's been the bane of my existence ever since I've been married. Oh, I know I'm not alone and that there are hundreds of Web sites, and cookbooks and television shows dedicated to answering the age-old question: What can I make my family for dinner? But, somehow, I never thought it would happen to me. I never thought I'd be one of those millions of women (come on, you know it's usually our responsibility...even in the most modern households)who stress, worry and dedicate WAY too much time thinking about what to cook. The thing is, food is already a complicated subject for me. I have been "watching" my weight for as long as I can remember. And of course my dear husband is tall, lean and has never had to count a calorie his entire life. Plus, there's the time factor. During the week, we get home at 6:30. L has already eaten, so at least I don't have to worry about HER (only Wednesdays and the weekends - I'll cover that in another post)and little Ms. 21 month old doesn't go to bed before 8:30p (on a good night) so, I don't start cooking until then. Suffice it to say, we're not eating until at least 9 and then there's clean up...You get the idea. The good news is, I do have a few recipes that I can rely on -- mostly from Giada de Laurentis' pasta and everyday Italian cookbook. But, there's only so many times I can make those without getting bored and/or boring my husband (which I was accused of lately -- not a pleasant conversation.) So then I try a new recipe, but that entails the uncertainty of whether or not my husband will like it. Yes, I know, it sounds so 1950's of me. But, at the end of the day, isn't that what cooking is about? Making other people happy? Okay, okay, I know that's not exactly all that it is about. But, I know how much pleasure I get from really good food and I love the feeling of satisfaction (?) I get when I cook something that everyone (mostly my husband) thinks is delicious. Maybe that makes me a bit old-school. I can handle that. In the meantime, I need some new recipes (ideally, low fat and healthy for me -- rich and hearty for my husband)and more time. A girl can dream, can't she?